Knockdown display stand



May 12, 1964 F. VAN DUYNE 3,132,747

KNOCKDOWN DISPLAY STAND Filed July 6, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet l TEJ.

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ATTORNEY May 12, 1964 F. VAN DUYNE KNOCKDOWN DISPLAY STAND 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 6, 1962 KINVENTOR. F950 VAN fla v.5 3W 5. Q/MJ" ATTORNEY May 12, 1964 F. VAN DUYNE KNOCKDOWN DISPLAY STAND 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 6, 1962 INVENTOR. 5959 K4 0 Y/Vf BYWM '3. 9w-

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,132,747 KNOCKDOWN DISPLAY STAND Fred Van Duyne, Erskine Lakes, NJ., assignor to Melrose Wire Products, Inc, Passaic, N.J., a corporation of New Jerse y Filed July 6, 1962, Ser. No. 207,916

6 Claims. (Cl. 211-177) This invention relates to a collapsible display stand for displaying merchandise such as rolls of paper, plastic and textiles, books, canned goods, and similar items and particularly to knockdown display stands combining rigid construction and ready disassambly into compact form for transportation from one location to another.

It is the object of this invention to provide a knockdown display stand of rugged constructin, which may be assembled and disassembled readily.

A further object is to provide a collapsible display stand of size sufficient to accommodate large amounts of merchandise and which, when disassembled, can be reduced to compact size for economical shipment.

A further object is to provide a knockdown display stand which can be manufactured at a low cost, and which will be attractive in appearance, light in weight and efficient inuse.

A further object is to provide a knockdown display stand on which heavy articles of merchandise may be mounted in tiers for display and in which each tier may be readily rotated to facilitate display of the merchandise.

A further object is to provide a knockdown display stand which may be adapted for a variety of additional uses such as a drying stand for photographic negatives and prints, as a laboratory rack, for drying laundry, and for other household and workshop uses.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be understood by reference to the following specification and accompanying drawings in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is set forth.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a knockdown display stand constructed in accordance with this invention, showing'one assembled tier of racks and afragmentary part of a second tier mounted on the upright of the stand;

' FIG. 2 shows a rack member;

FIG. 3 is a display bar mountable between two rack members; p

FIG. 4 is a top section and view taken on lines 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view on lines 55 of FIG. 4 showing detail of the interlocking jointof the rack;

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective showing interlocking joints of two rack members approaching engagement;

FIG. 7 is a similar schematic perspective showing the interlocking joints aligned for engagement;

FIG. 8 is a similar schematic perspective showing the interlocking joints engaged.

Referring now to the version of the invention disclosed in the drawings and specifically in FIG. 1 the stand 1, which may be in the form of any conventional base, supports the vertical upright member 2. Upright member 2 may be constructed of any suitable material such as metal tubing adapted to be fitted together in several sections joined by threaded or push-fit joints. At intervals along the upright member 2 the supporting washers 3, slideably mounted on the upright, are supported by dowel pins or keys fitted in holes drilled in upright 2.

The numerals 4 and 5 denote rack members assembled in a first tier on upright 2. A fragmentary view of a second tier of rack members is denoted by the numeral 6. Referring now to FIG. 2, each rack member comprises a generally rectangular wire frame 7 joined regularly to a second wire frame of the same shape 8, said frames 7 and 8 being connected by connecting bars, or members, 9 and 10 and by transverse wire elements 11, 12, 13 and 14. Each such transverse element and connecting member is welded or soldered to wire frames 7 and 8 to give rigidity to the assembled rack member. In addition support bars 15 and 16 are similarly joined to frame 8 to aiford greater rigidity in the vertical plane.

FIG. 3 shows a display bar 17 having hooked ends 18 and 19 adapted to engage openings 20 and 21 in connecting bars such as 9 and. 10 as shown in the top view of the invention, in 'FIG. 4. A sectional view of a roll of material 22 mountedon a display bar 17 appears in the lower left area of FIG. 4. Rack members 23 and 24 of FIG. 4 are similar to the rack member appearing in perspective in FIG. 2, and wire frames 25 and 26 in rack 24 correspond to wire frames 7 and 8 in rack 23.

In FIG. 5, a section taken on lines 5-5 of FIG. 4, detail of the interlocking joint comprising 11 and 12 as engaged with a similar locking joint is noted. Each transverse wire element is regularly raised, or bent upwardly in the middle part of its length as shown at 1121 of FIG. 5 so as interchangeably to engage corresponding transverse wire elements 27 and 28. Likewise wire frames 7 and 8, on which transverse wire element 11 is mounted, abut against wire frames 25 and 26 and also against transverse wire elements 27 and 28 mounted integral with wire frames 25 and 26, as appears schematically in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8.

With reference now to FIG. 6, rack 23 as shown in FIG. 2- and FIG. 4 is inserted within corresponding rack 24 in a plane normal to rack 24. Wire frames 7 and 8 of rack 23 are slid along wire frames 25 and 26 of rack 24, the top part of rack 23 being tilted at an angle from the vertical until the transverse wire elements 11, 12, 27 and 28 are aligned for engagement as .shown in FIG. 7. The construction of rack 23, as shown in FIG. 2, allows the upper and lower sides of the rack member to be compressed together so that transverse wire elements 11 and 12 at the bottom and transverseelements 13 and 14 at the top can be aligned, as shown in FIG. 7 prior to locking into engagement as'shown in FIG. 8. After alignment, engagement is achieved simply by releasing the pressure on theupper and lower sides of rack 23.

With reference to FIG. 8 it should be noted that transverse wire elements 27 and 28 integral with wire frames 25 and 26 abut closely against wire frames 7 and 8 along the sides of the rectangle forming the interlocking joint.

Furthermore, transverse elements 11 and-'12 which are integral with wire frames 7 and 8 likewise abut against transverse wire elements 27 and 28 at the four corners of the rectangle formed by their junction. This latter rectangular opening provides the bearing surface through which the vertical upright shown in FIG. 1 passes when the display stand is assembled. A similar interlocking joint results from the engagement of the transverse wire elements corresponding to 11 and 12 and located on top of rack member 23 with wire frames 25 and 26 and the transverse wire elements corresponding to 27 and 28, rack 23 being entirely within rack 24 as appears in FIG. 1. The interlocking joint described is interchangeable and the assembly process can be reversed by inserting rack 24 Within rack 23 if desired. The rack members may be of any desired shape, provided that the central part of each is either compressible or expandable to facilitate assembly. The upper and lower boundaries of each wire frame may be depressed slightly to provide improved spring tension, although an absolute rectangular form is quite acceptable. The display bar of FIG. 3 may be replaced by shelves or any suitable display device desired in lieu of the arrangement shown in the drawings.

Although the knockdown display stand described is a preferred embodiment of the invention, similar knockdown display stands, and specifically the rack members comprising each tier, can be manufactured from stamped metal, plastic or other suitable materials without departing from the concept of this invention. If manufactured from sheet metal in the form of a continuous metal strip, for example, rectangular openings or apertures can be cut in the center part of each rack member and raised flanges can'be substituted for the transverse wire elements described to provide the required interlocking joint. Such sheet metal rack members would be assembled in the same manner described herein with respect to wire rack members and as shown in the drawings.

I claim:

1. In a knockdown display stand, the combination of an upright member, a rack tier comprising at least two rack members, and interlocking joint means integral with said rack members, in which each of said rack members comprises two regularly interconnected uniform wire frames and in which said interlocking joint means comprises raised transverse wire elements centrally located between said wire frames at the top and base respectively of each said rack member and spaced to accommodate said upright member therebetween, one rack member being fitted within the other, with the transverse wire elements on each said rack member engaging the corresponding transverse wire elements of the other.

2. In a knockdown display stand, a vertical upright including a base, a rack tier comprising two rack members mountable on said upright, interlocking joint means integral with said rack members, and means for supporting said tier at a predetermined height above said base, in which each of said rack members comprises two regularly interconnected wire rectangles and in which said interlocking joint means in one rack member comprises transverse wire elements centrally mounted between said rectangles and spaced to interlock with a corresponding interlocking joint on the other rack member, said interlocking joint means being spaced to mount slidably on said upright, and one said rack member fitted within and partially contained by the other.

3. In combination in a knockdown display stand, an upright member, a rack tier comprising a. first rack member and a second rack member, and interlocking joint means, in which said rack members each consist of two equal polygonal wire frames regularly joined by connecting members, in which said interlocking joint means comprises two pairs of parallel transverse wire elements, located centrally on the base and top of each of said rack members respectively, the ends of which transverse wire elements are mounted upon and normal to said frames, the middle portion of each such elements being raised, and in which said first rack member is detachably mounted within and normal to the plane of said second rack member, said transverse wire elements on each of said rack members abutting against the corresponding transverse wire elements of the other, whereby said rack members are interlocked to form said rack tier centrally mountable on said upright member.

4. In a knockdown display'stand, the combination of an upright member, a rack tier consisting of two interlocking rack members, and interlocking joint means integral with said rack members, in which each of said rack members comprises a continuous metal strip forming a regular shape having at least four sides, in which said interlocking joint means comprises a rectangular aperture in the base and upper sides of each of said rack members, upwardly extending flanges being located on two opposing edges of each of said rectangular apertures, and in which one of said rack members is compressibly fitted within and partially contained by the other and said rectangular apertures in each of said rack members are aligned each with the other, whereby said rack tier as assembled is mountablethru said apertures on said upright member.

5. An interlocking structural joint comprising a first base element having two longitudinally disposed parallel base members, two parallel transverse members integral with and perpendicular to said base members, regular vertical flanges integral with and extending upwards from each of said transverse members and extending lengthwise along each transverse member a distance less than the distance between said base members, said base mem bers and said transverse members being spaced to form a rectangular aperture therebetween, and a second base element, comprising similarly arranged base members, transverse members and vertical flanges, adapted centrally to engage said first base element in a position immediately above and normal to said base element.

6. In a knockdown display stand, the combination of an upright member, a rack tier consisting of two interlocking rack members, and interlocking joint means integral with said rack members, in which each of said rack members comprises a plastic material forming a regular shape having at least four sides, in which eachsaid interlocking joint means comprises a rectangular aperture in the base and upper sides of each of said rack members, upwardly extending flanges being located on two opposing edges on each of said rectangular apertures, and in which one of said rack members is compressibly fitted within and partially contained by the other and said rectangular apertures in each of said rack members are aligned each with the other, whereby said rack tier as assembled is mountable through said apertures on said upright member.

References Cited in the file of this patent I UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,226,310 Clark May 15, 1917 2,707,566 Eaton et a1 May 3, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 825,910 Great Britain Dec. 23, 1960 

1. IN A KNOCKDOWN DISPLAY STAND, THE COMBINATION OF AN UPRIGHT MEMBER, A RACK TIER COMPRISING AT LEAST TWO RACK MEMBERS, AND INTERLOCKING JOINT MEANS INTEGRAL WITH SAID RACK MEMBERS, IN WHICH EACH OF SAID RACK MEMBERS COMPRISES TWO REGULARLY INTERCONNECTED UNIFORM WIRE FRAMES AND IN WHICH SAID INTERLOCKING JOINT MEANS COMPRISES RAISED TRANSVERSE WIRE ELEMENTS CENTRALLY LOCATED BETWEEN SAID WIRE FRAMES AT THE TOP AND BASE RESPECTIVELY OF EACH SAID RACK MEMBER AND SPACED TO ACCOMMODATE SAID UPRIGHT MEMBER THEREBETWEEN, ONE RACK MEMBER BEING FITTED WITHIN THE OTHER, WITH THE TRANSVERSE WIRE ELEMENTS ON EACH SAID RACK MEMBER ENGAGING THE CORRESPONDING TRANSVERSE WIRE ELEMENTS OF THE OTHER. 